This was the episode that revealed Kate's original crime, the mysterious Black Horse, Kate and Jack's kiss, the missing Orientation film segments and a message from Walt (??). And yet with all that this episode is rather dull and boring.

The opening teaser is amazing: Jin and Sun have a shippy moment, Sawyer tells Jack he loves Kate, Kate sees a mysterious Black Horse in the Jungle and we see what Kate's original crime was, which includes a house exploding.
But then the episode seems to lounge back into a very intense character plotline with added mysteries, which don't really add that much.
If Locke's flashback episodes are my favourite, then Kate's may be my least favourite. Remember "Whatever the Case May be" was a Kate episode. Thankfully, as dull as "What Kate Did" is, it is not as pointless as the former one. As essential as it was to kow what Kate did to force her on the run, the reveal is a bit disapointing. The actual crime of blowing up the house is visually impressive in the teaser, but the reasons for the crime don't make too much sense. This episode gives us little to make her crime justifiable. Wayne may have grabbed Kate's arm in the teaser but this seemed quite harmless to what could have happened. We could have seen him hurt Kate more, even to the extent of beating her like he supposedly beat up her Mother. Unlike Sawyer, we don't see any reason why Kate should have killed Wayne, other than to protect her mother.
Sawyer has a far more meaningful and justifiable reason to kill the original Sawyer: he had to listen to and live with the murder of his poor mother. Thus, Kate's story of how she used to lay in bed listening to Wayne beat up her mother beat her up pales in comparison.
So this aspect of Kate's story I found rather disappointing.
Another disappointing aspect was that the missing pieces of the Orientation film that Eko disovers in the Bible were hardly revelatory (pun intended). It was only meant to set up the final scene but it could have done that and revealed even more about the Swan Station and the "Incident" which we still don't know anything about.
The final moment of the episode where Michael seemingly communicates with Walt, as well as the scene where Eko reveals the extended Orientation film to Locke are the highlights past the teaser. Other than that this episode is rather lacklustre. It is rather slow and uninteresting at times. The scope of the series may be returning but this is a slow introduction to this stage of the season. Shippers will be thrilled by the Jack and Kate kiss but it is not why I watch the show. I agree that it is a nice aspect of the show but it is not the reason I watch the show. Most of the episode is "all talk and no action". For the first time since the "Crappy Case" episode from Season One, I found myself half-watching the episode, doing something else at the same time, which tells me that this episode failed to keep my attention.
There were some reasonable moments but these had nothing to do with the Jack/Sawyer/Kate love triangle. So far in Season 2 there hasn't been too much to shout about/. There have been two outstanding episodes: "Man of Science, Man of Faith" and "Orientation". Other notable episodes have been "Everybody Hates Hugo" and "The Other 48 Days". The remaining 5 episodes have all been rather disappointing. It is interesting that even Shannon's murder has, thus far, not caused many sparks, among the two camps, and if this episode is anything to go by, we may not see any sparks at all, which is another major disappointment. What will it take for the momentum to return? I wait with anticipation.....

Why do we have to watch Kates flash backs when there are so many unanswered questions????

This Kate centric episode was a bore with very few redeeming moments. The flash backs were completely pointless and could have been filled with something that actually made it worth the viewers while to sit through the episode. Kate is more an irritation than anything else and I have little interest in the intrigues of the Kate, Jack, Sawyer love triangle when there are so many unanswered questions and new questions popping up constantly.

The black horse is interesting. Is it really there or is it some thing Kate dreamed up that the island with its “magical” properties conjured up. If it is there why is it there, where did it come from and why do we only see it now? One possibility is that the Horse is some form of Guardian spirit sent to provide protection or possibly bring a message much like Jacks meeting with his dad in the 1st season which like the horse cannot be completely considered a hallucination. Maybe Kate should have asked the horse what it wanted to tell her and maybe it would have helped her to decide is it going to be Jack or is it going to be Sawyer. When we look at the broader picture the island is taking a toll on the psychological well being of survivors and we have to consider whether the survivors may not have had deep seated issues that needed attention before the crash which have been aggravated by the trauma of crash and all the events that have followed or whether there is something on the island that is slowly driving them all mad. (they have been going loopy since they started eating the hatch food) We have also seen Shannons visions of Walt which might have been written off as a hallucination until Sayid also saw the same thing. However we do know that Walt is “different” and we can only hope that we will get to the bottom of why he is different.

We finally see Locke and Ecko sit down together. This made this episode worth watching. These two are definite parallels of each other. Both being men of faith, both knowledgeable when it comes to survival. Both are men of few words but when they speak it is both powerful and enigmatic. Their greeting of each other summed them up so perfectly. While Locke can be considered more esoteric Ecko can be considered more dogmatic yet both are aware that there is more to the island than can be explained by reason. I think that this is what is leading to Jacks gradual disintegration as he needs reason for everything the same way he needs air to breathe and what is going on defies reason. I have to give credit to the writers for the way that they brought the missing piece of the orientation tape into the picture. Echo’s story was magic, beautifully told and yet not up in your face. In this we see that Echo’s faith rests strongly on his religious convictions while Lockes rests more on a belief in the powers of the universe and that everything and everyone fits into this.

The piece of the tape causes the stories thread to take another twisted turn and is perfectly timed with Michaels 1st communication with Walt. We are left wondering if Michael is really communicating with his son or is this something like Kates horse that has manifested by his desire. It also poses the question why did the communication start only when Michael was alone with the computer? Why has this never happened to any one else while they are on button duty. Can it be that some one is possibly watching the people in the hatch and being aware of Michaels desire to find his son is cunningly taking advantage of that desire to manipulate Michael. There is definitely more to this than the mere coincidence that we have become used to as followers of lost.

That was it?

Well, we know all about Kate, now, don't we? That was it? She's "White trash" at heart and Sawyer truly is her soulmate? Frankly, they could have summed up Kate's background in ten minutes or so and left the rest of the episode to the much more interesting developments surrounding the missing film clips. Sure, they arranged it so they could dribble it out slowly over the next few episodes, but that only makes things more irritating once you realize we'll have to wait for those episodes to come after the "Christmas break". Another mystery within a mystery within a surprise. Ho humm.

boring episode. Great ending.

Kinda boring episode. Nothing interesting happened for a looong while. The kate flashbacks were nice but what happened on the island wasn´t.

Things started to get interesting at the end when they saw the film and michael chatted on the cpu...other than that it was 35 minutes of boring stuff. No wonder lost is losing viewers, crap like this won't help stop that.

As usual the cliffhanger save the episode but on a whole i just fell asleep, only to wake up when the flashbacks occured.

One of my least favourite Lost Episodes

I thought this was one of the worst episodes of lost series 2 and possibly of the entire series of Lost so far, it was a huge dissapointment because i had been looking forward to finding out what Kate did and not only was what she did a let down, the whole episode was poor and a lot of it was a waste of time, there wasnt much excitement or humour and Kate's actions were way too erratic just like Hurley in "Everybody Hates Hugo". I also didnt like Sawyer saying "You Killed Me" to Kate because i still think it was a bit crazy. The flashback was a lot better than the action on the island apart from finding out what Kate actually did.

What was all the fuss about?

I know this episode was supposed to explain What Kate Did, but I really was left more confused by the whole thing. More of Kate’s back story is revealed, she set her father's house on fire while he was inside, and it killed him. Her mother turned her into the police, but she got away. Kate sees a horse on the island, and she thinks her father is haunting her through Sawyer. Locke and Eko make an interesting discovery about the Orientation film, but I didn't really get what it was. The film says for the people in the hatch not to use the computer for anything other than typing in the numbers. Michael goes to the computer, and someone has typed in Hello?. Michael types in Hello? the person asks who is it, and Michael says who he is. Then the person replies Dad? This episode really got quite boring and I ended up missing a few parts, there are so many mysteries now that I'm losing track what the hell this show is about.

Overall, this episode finally provided the answer to many questions about Kate, but in that muddled process, it came somewhat short of the edgy expectations that previous episodes had generated.

Defying expectation can be a tricky business. When writing for a series that has been lauded for complex storytelling and character development, one might be fooled into thinking that answers can be simpler than they appear. The producers of “Lost”, in the most recent podcast (a truly useful fount of information and promotion), indicate that they felt it was time to address Kate’s past and put everything on the table.

It’s not that Kate’s original crime is somehow disappointing. As predicted, she killed her father, and her mother (the primary victim) was unwilling to see that it was a necessary evil. But it might be said that the writers wanted to soften the story a bit from what was originally suggested. “Born to Run” hinted at a far more abusive situation than was revealed in this episode, and perhaps that is why the revelation turned out to be so lackluster.

It’s entirely possible that the writers were going for something more subtle. There are elements introduced in this episode that clarify Kate’s interest in Jack and Sawyer, after all. Kate loves Jack for everything that she saw in Tom and sees in Jack. At least, she feels as though she should love Jack. But that’s because she’s drawn more to Sawyer. Unfortunately, Sawyer is far too similar to the kind of man who represented everything she hates.

Imagine how the hints in “Born to Run” might have intersected with the information in this episode. For years, Kate might have been abused by her step-father, with her mother taking physical abuse and making excuses. Kate might have been trapped. Then, learning that her step-father was in fact her biological father might have been a trigger for true violence. Her actions would have been more understandable.

Without the personal component, Kate’s motivations are harder to grasp. The implication is that Kate was not, in fact, justified in her actions. Kate unearthed the truth about Wayne and her mother, and that was simply enough to drive her to pre-meditated murder. Frankly, that’s not a very compelling argument, and it certainly doesn’t engender sympathy. This is where that subtlety question comes in: at what point is enough enough? When does murder become justified? And was Kate’s “father” correct in saying that there was something dark and violent inside Kate that allowed her to step over that line when others wouldn’t?

In the end, the love triangle is exactly where it was before. Jack is still the unfortunate embodiment of all the things that Kate loved about Tom, but with all the pesky non-Tom shortcomings. Kate still sees him as the chance to break a cycle she has worked up in her head. Sawyer is still the embodiment of all the things she hates but can’t seem to avoid. Thematically, Jack still represents the likely source of Kate’s redemption, and in turn, Kate is still the one likely to show Sawyer a better way.

Two elements exist within the narrative that could tie all of this personal drama to the island’s more unusual properties, however. The first is the easiest to dismiss: Sawyer’s apparent “channeling” of Wayne. It’s not at all hard to rationalize this. Kate was thinking about Wayne, running her past through her mind again and again, and so she was more than likely to interpret Sawyer’s feverish mutterings as a message from the grave. Transference, indeed!

But then there’s the horse. The very real horse, which seemed to know Kate. A horse that really shouldn’t be on the island. There’s simply no easy way to explain it other than to suggest that Kate has a way with animals that she doesn’t recognize. What the writers were trying to say with the horse is not entirely clear, other than the fact that seeing the horse further triggered Kate’s memory dump.

Thankfully, the writers don’t leave the entire episode to the exploration of Kate’s confused heart. There’s also the Locke/Eko interaction, which is far more intriguing. As predicted, Locke and Eko do not work off the same page. Eko seems to have Locke worked out in a matter of moments: Locke loves to mistake coincidence for fate. Eko, on the other hand, takes a fairly rational and analytical approach to his religious mysticism.

So where Locke sees the “orientation film” as something of a sign from his island gods, Eko knows it to be the work of man. And as such, Eko clearly does not attach some vast importance or significance to the hatch and its broader context. Eko may ultimately agree with Locke’s approach (continuing to follow the instructions in the film), but the philosophies differ substantially. Eko seems poised to challenge every one of Locke’s assumptions, and that ought to lead to serious and passionate debate in future episodes.

In that respect, Eko sits squarely between Jack and Locke on the “faith vs. reason” continuum. Jack is very much the pragmatic leader, to a fault. Would he be willing to consider a religiously-motivated interpretation of events? Locke, of course, gives every moment a mystical significance, so long as it fits within the point of view that leaves him as High Priest of the Island. Eko, on the other hand, seems to live within his religious convictions, while also approaching situations from a pragmatic point of view. While Eko will certainly clash with Locke over how to interpret events on the island, he will also challenge Jack’s desire to leave faith or belief out of the equation.

From a “big picture” perspective, there’s also Michael’s apparent conversation with Walt via the computer. A number of explanations could be offered, but the most obvious centers on the long-held assumption that the Others are, in fact, the remnants of those who began and maintained the Dharma Initiative. If the whole island was meant as a complex experiment, then telling people not to use the computer for communication with the outside world would be an obvious part of that social experiment. Any communication attempts or triggers would come from the Dharma Initiative personnel as a test; if Walt is being protected by the Others, kept from being part of the grand experiment in social conditioning, then he would have access to the computer network.

That is the more rational explanation: that the prohibition has little or no actual meaning beyond the test protocol of the Dharma experiment. It supports the idea that there is, in fact, no “incident” that would result should the “numbers” not be entered. The question is whether or not Michael can identify networking infrastructure on the old equipment; it shouldn’t be that hard.

Certain key questions emerge: Why was the film broken into pieces and kept in different stations on the island? Are there other parts of the film scattered in other stations on the island? How does all of this play into the purpose of the island itself? And how does the Hanso Foundation relate to any of this, since the producers have endlessly hinted that it’s a huge part of the mythology?

As for the other characters, once again, they seem to be left to the background. Still, they are present, and they serve various functions. Most importantly, perhaps, Sayid is left to deal with Shannon’s death, which has led him momentarily to grief rather than rage. Ana Lucia, in relation to that, still cannot bring herself to integrate fully with the JackLocke Tribe. Their inevitable confrontation is thereby postponed, which makes sense.

Jin and Sun seem to have taken temporary residence in the Love Shack, which is good to see. Sun plays an important role in terms of Kate’s plot thread as well. Kate has the chance to avoid her own issues by letting Sun take care of Sawyer. Sun is, essentially, her excuse to keep running. When Kate chooses to dismiss Sun and take care of Sawyer herself, she is taking an important step in owning her past and what it means to her.

One odd scene takes place between Jack and Hurley. Hurley essentially tells Jack that he’s working out his anger with Sawyer by taking on Sawyer’s job functions with a dose of resentment. That’s all well and good, but is he really the character to be making that observation? It felt like little more than a chance to remind the audience that Hurley had been in a mental hospital. Maybe it was as simple as the fact that Libby, the more logical choice, wouldn’t know the history between Jack and Sawyer, but that could have been worked out.

For all that it covered a lot of distinctly second season issues, this felt more like one of the first season episodes. Elements of the big picture were advanced, however incrementally, while Kate’s personal issues were once again on the table. Had the episode dealt entirely with Kate and her past, then the lack of complexity might have made this a disappointment. However, the Eko/Locke scenes alone were worth the time spent, and while some of the elements were vexing, the story moved forward.

Had its highs and lows.

Okay...Lets put the good stuff out of the way. Ecko - Locke interaction promises tons. Hurley seems to be more interesting than we have been led to believe. Ana Lucia had less on screen time (Why doe sit feel like the quality of the episode is inversely proportional to Ana Lucia's on screen time?). The computer and the Dharma project has become more intriguing. Michael may go out to seek Walt, showing some interaction with the others.

Now the bad...Kate's story was absolute filler. First, it was unnecessary, since while we did learn about her past, it did not in any way affect our judgment of her character. We all expected something like this to have happened. We always knew she was someone trying to be good, but with an evil part hidden away somewhere. I will agree though, it helped us understand why she could not bring herself to love Sawyer. But why spend 45 minutes showing us why she was finding it difficult to love Sawyer, only to have all those difficulties disappear at the end of the episode? Besides, does the charm of Lost lie in the relationships between the characters (I mean their love affairs) or in the altercations between them and their responses to the island and its many mysteries? The writers have to start doing something to resolve the issues at hand. Whenever they feel they are losing the audience, they raise another question without answering any of them. I am not against new twists, and questions, but at least give some answers, even if they may prove to be false in the end.

But at least this episode advanced the storyline. I think it bodes well for the future,esp since it seems like the next episode is gonna be on Ecko...Woot Woot!!!

As nice as it was to learn what Kate did, what's with the horse?

Okay, so Kate killed her birth father because he was "bad". Sorry to hear that. But what's with the horse?!?! I love this show, but every week it's getting more and more ridiculous. First the polar bear, then Jack's father, then Walt, now a stinking black horse who saved Kate from doing time for her dad's murder!!! Geez, this show better get to the point real quick because I'm losing interest.

Better

I think that overall this ep was better than the previous ones, but not up to the standard they had set in season one. The pacing seemed a bit off - it started out suspensefully, but seemed to slow down as the episode went on. Throwing in a shock here and there isn't really suspense-building. There are interesting parts, but they don't seem to add up to a satisfying whole.
The story of Josiah can be found in 2 Kings - Josiah began his reign at age 8 (children, Walt?) and, interestingly, lost his life in a battle against the Pharaoh Neco of Egypt. If there is supposed to be some parallel to Eko (Eco?). Is that why he delivers every line like it's a pronouncement?

Finally we know what Kate did, but... who cares?

Great episode and everything but I stopped caring about what Kate did a long time ago, if they told us in season one I'd be all "Damn!" but just telling us randomly in some random episode sort of kills the whole mood.

The whole fact that Kate killed her incestous father is dampened by the fact that Locke, Mike and Eko make a discovery about the film, saying that the computer can be used for things other than just typing in the code to reset the count down, this is apparant when Mike gets a message from his son.

So some questions are answered but with the usual Lost style, more are asked. Season 2 is taking it's time getting going, but by now it should really start to get into full swing, hopefully that comes soon.

Great Episode

The Black Horse.... I hope he is for real,Giant Polar Bears,Speeding Wild Boars and Horses, wait a few episode and you'll see a flying Shark i love it.
This is why i watch this show, i hope they'll go and explore the island some more, maybe than they will find some more great things, maybe some more Pirate ships, or Dynamite...

Great Scenes There!!!

Until Now:
Season 1 was Impressive. There was impressive drama, Strange things on the Island, too much mysteries and the fact that this show concept was entirely new.

Season 2 problem is that we already know the show formula, there are super fan and there are normal fans, like me that want some quality time with this show.

Until now, we know what is inside the hatch and what is function is supposed to be. Shannon is dead, some people from the tailplane section survived and are now with our survivors. Jin, Sawyer and Michael are Ok. We know what Kate did. And there are other on this Island.

Is this good? Of course, but is not superb anymore.

There are some episodes there will be superb, but one of the things with this season 2 episodes is that the producers are making things slowly.

From the Writers/Producers Perspective:

They decided to finally reveal what Kate did. It make sense kept us in the dark, but we already know that she killed a man. This episodes provide us with the actual images. Not only that, since Lost will not air to the next weeks, the Hatch mystery is growing. This was a smart move, mainly because Michael is using the computer to make outside connections.

This is interesting, and of course, the writers fill the entire episode with Kate drama. There are some characters that showed their faces too, but just to appear only.

Put Locke and Eko in interactions was one of the good ideas that the writers had.

My Point of View:

This episode began with a bang, very impressive. Kate flashbacks was interesting this time. Even the last scene as some information.

Others characters participation was not important, not as Locke and mr. Eko interaction, that was another great thing that this episode delivered.

The cliffhanger in the end, maintain things more interesting , until Lost returns.

Overall, some great scenes in the Island and from the flashbacks make this episode at least great.

The long awaited episode.

I thought the 2 previous Kate episodes were horrible. But this one finally reveals her big crime, right at the beginning, and oh boy it was superb! I didn't see it coming, and it all suddenly made sense. For the most...

her flashback was really enjoyable, and emotional. I have to give it to the writers. They wrote Kate's mother's character really well. Her reaction to what Kate did was very realistic. The island story had a nice duality to it. Kate's struggle with Sawyer and Jack(or between them...) and Locke/Eko getting to know eachother. The Kate storyline was okay. Not the most exciting, but I thought Sawyer being posessed by the man Kate killed was a good idea, and was very similiar to what Sawyer went through in S1 with the boar. Clever. But sometimes it felt dragged out, and her randomly kissing Jack was kind of there to please the shippers in my opinion, because it just didn't seem to serve any purpose :/

But as far as Locke and Eko goes. Brilliant. I loved their interactions, they seem to speak the same language. Eko gives John an "extended" cut of the orientation video which reveals that the computer is not allowed to be used for anything else other than pushign the button. And right at that moment, Michael hears a beep. Someone is sending him a message on the computer. "Dad?"

Cut to black.

What a cliffhanger. I didn't see that one coming at all. Is it really Walt on the other end? Or is it the others?

While this episode is a definate improvement over the previous episode, it still doesn't deliver what I except from Lost.

This episode deals with Kate once again. Her criminal life. Why was she chased by the authorities? The first scene of her flashback is trully amazing. It's surprising and gives a good punch.

Unfortunately, just like the few previous episodes, this episode fails to deliver the level of excitement of the opening scene. The pacing is sometimes awkward, sometimes better, but even compared to Lost it's slow.

In the episode basically it shows Kate taking care of Sawyer, but then, the man who was murdered Kate takes over Sawyer's body... uhm. Sounds pretty weird, and it is, but it's good. I think.

The only thing left worth mentioning is the super ending. Michael chats with his son through the hatch computer. Creepy.

Time to reveal a major piece of the puzzle. Spoilers ahead.

As Lost is largely based on its mysteries, the writers must decide how long to keep the viewers in the dark before revealing a satisfying answer, along with what hints they’ll drop along the way. This episode details the origin of Kate’s criminal past and, unlike other events like this, the reveal happens in the prologue. The writers know how huge a fanbase Lost has and how much discussion it provokes at watercoolers and on internet forums, so they must be aware of the criticism that this season has progressed slowly. What Kate did is one of the biggest questions among fans (probably the biggest is how Locke became paralyzed). By revealing it, they must’ve hoped that it would ease some worries. The actual crime, even though it is patricide, may be disappointing, but it may be interesting to see in Lost’s long term scope.

Like Jack, Kate’s flashbacks to date have been told in reverse. Now we’re at the beginning with her original crime: killing her sleazy father. It is a rather audacious thing to do for someone who never had any run ins with the law before. The end reason isn’t as obvious as we were lead to expect, which some found hard to believe. Kate was never molested, raped or beaten by Wayne, although he did make some really disgusting, incestuous (even if he didn’t know it) comments to her. She killed him because she found out he was her real father and her mother was too blinded by her “love” to realize what kind of person he was.

Kate, like some on the island, believes in fate. She felt that because her father was a bad man, she could never be a good woman. It is interesting to see the philosophical ideas brought forth on Lost. Kate doesn’t believe in the idea of tabula rasa, a theory developed by the real John Locke (ironically, her first episode was titled “Tabula Rasa”). Are we born with a blank slate, with our personalities formed by our surroundings and experiences, or are we born with some intrinsic blueprint? Kate clearly thinks the first, but that could be disproven.

Both of Kate’s fathers parallel the men she’s interested in on the island. Sgt Austen is similar to Jack as Wayne is similar to Sawyer. She never thought she could be good since Wayne would always be a part of her, yet she is still drawn to Sawyer. This does help her settle her problems with her father, as Wayne appears to channel the catatonic Sawyer. One of the things the writers pointed out in their commentary podcast (which I hope they do often) is that these characters have problems with people off the island, and these unresolved issues spill over to those who are on the island.

We see it on the island, as Kate’s lack of sleep causes her to become unglued. The transference of Wayne to Sawyer’s feverish system could’ve been the result of lack of sleep, much like Jack experienced in “White Rabbit”. She’s trying to figure out her daddy issues by talking to Sawyer, who thankfully wakes up (I’ve missed lively Sawyer) and by kissing Jack, which isn’t magic and just ends awkwardly.

Kate now joins several other characters who have some animal tied into their identity. Walt has the polar bear, Sawyer has the boar, Charlie has the moth and now Kate has the horse. For Kate, this horse represents freedom, as the horse provided Kate a venue to escape from the Marshall. It isn’t a halucination. How did *the* horse find its way to the island? It could be that the horse is involved in one of the Dharma Initiative’s experiments like the shark. It's pressence could be explained simply because Kate is on the island too.

It was great to see the Marshall back on the show. The dynamic they’ve shared in past episodes may be a stock relationship (the criminal and the man who aggressively pursues the criminal), but through the writing and the acting, it is fresh. I would like to know more about him and how this particular case caught his interest, since it brought him, too, to the island.

One subtle clue thrown in the episode that many (including myself) missed the first time was the appearance of Sayid on a TV in Kate’s flashback. This was the scene where she sees Austen at the Army Recruitment center. Some wondered what Sayid would be doing on TV. Considering his time in the Republican Guard, it isn’t too hard to see why. I saw one telling promotional photo from this episode possibly explaining why he would be on TV, but I will avoid discussing it now because the Sayid cameo was even briefer than Hurley’s cameo in “…in Translation”.

Ana-Lucia, after a few high profile episodes, spends most of the episode on the sidelines, brooding over what she did (and making something out of those large sticks.) She is still confused, but is more peaceful than her panicked state which marked most of “Collision”. It’s nice that they didn’t just forget it and have her merge with the tribe. The funeral for Shannon certainly isn’t making her more eager to socialize either.

I’m so glad to see Jin and Sun together and happy (as evidenced by Hurley’s thumbs up and their peaceful walk out of that hut). However, it must be a little awkward for them to be intimate right in the middle of the camp. At least Shannon and Sayid were a ways off. I’m still looking forward to seeing some guy standing near the tent with a shocked expression on his face.

Michael, for lack of asking “what the hell is this” in the last episode gets to explore the hatch, which allows us to learn more about the hatch in return. Michael’s prowess with architecture shows him the blast doors, something no one else had seen and Desmond failed to tell them about. Blast doors certainly elevate the extremity of the incident in the audience’s imagination.

This curiosity leads him and Eko (who must’ve had a bell go off when he heard there was a film) to watch The Orientation video. Locke naively believes that whatever was cut was only a frame or two here and there, but fans knew that there was more missing, especially considering the film lapses at several important junctions, one of which details what the computer must not be used for. It is interesting that Locke is shown this way, and it helps set up the Eko-Locke relationship arc.

The missing segments of the film certainly raise certain questions. Why were these pieces removed from the original film? Who did it? Why is it stored on the other side of the island? The theory that the film was worn down and had to be cut from the film isn’t credible anymore: it would be too much of a coincidence even for Lost. Perhaps it is part of the experiment, if it is more psychological. Would someone try to use it for communication if they didn’t know it from the film?

Before Eko tells Locke about the film, he tells him the story of Josiah and the discovery of what would become the Old Testament. I’m not quite sure how parallel the missing footage is to the Old Testament, but the scene between these two men of faith, one more logical than the other, is critical to these two characters. Locke and Eko seem to be the characters who will get be bitter enemies, or become good friends (perhaps that’s why the Gilgamesh clue was thrown in the last episode).

The ending is particularly interesting considering the twist involving the Walt (or is it?) instant message. So much emphasis was placed on the missing piece of the Orientation film that it is unexpected, but still works in the frame of the show. We must remember that approximately six days have passed since Walt’s abduction, so Michael is still experiencing potent emotions. This moment could be served as a catalyst, as one person pointed out on a message board, for the second part of this season: the search for the lost children. Obviously Michael is not going to ignore it.

There are certainly a lot of questions. Was the person on the other end Walt? Was it a person? Where is the other end of this conversation coming from? If it was Walt, was he writing from another Dharma station or using the same type of power that he used to manifest himself for Shannon? Although Michael didn’t initiate it, would this qualify as something warranting of another incident? Is another incident iminent (probably yes by season’s end)? This was a great cliffhanger to leave the last episode of 2005 (a month and a half wait! Urgh!) Well, at least it gave me time to catch up on my Lost reviews.

"Every time I look at Sawyer...I see you, Wayne. And it makes me sick."

What Kate did to make her a criminal has been a mystery of the show since the second episode. However, this episode has always been a problem for me, simply because I don't really like it. It's technically a good episode, yet it never sits right for me, and I can't help but dislike it.

Almost every thing that happens in this episode is both good and bad for me. I'll start with the main plot, which is Kate's story. Kate sees a black horse on the island that we later learn is from her past, all while she's trying to care for Sawyer. I'm sorry, but this plot wouldn't seem out of place on a soap opera. Kate spends the whole episode sitting around and moping, all because she's thinking about her past. This episode, to me, officially kills all interesting aspects of Kate's character, and turns her into a whiny teenage girl that's trying to make two different guys notice her. Gone is the criminal who will do anything to achieve her goal. The fact that she's reminded of her previous life and goes nuts over it is ridiculous in and of itself. First of all, all the bad things that happened to her, she was responsible for. If she had not killed her father, she wouldn't have had to go through all of those events. Compare that to Jack, who's been reminded of his past life, also seeing a vision from it. Not only did he not flip out over it, but there wasn't anything he could have done differently. Sympathy goes to Jack or Locke, because they were victims of their circumstances; life dealt them a bad hand. I could care less if Kate's feeling remorseful, because everything that happened to her was her own fault.

The character herself is not the only problem I have with the story. The events surrounding her are way too sci-fi/melodrama for me. The black horse at the beginning of the episode has no reason for being there, other than to make seeing the horse in the flashback more impacting. The horse represents escape for Kate-it helped her escape from the marshal, and then she sees it when she has escaped from Wayne at the end of the episode. What has she escaped from earlier on? Wayne is the other problem I have with the storyline. What is up with him possessing Sawyer? I get that it's needed to develop Kate's character, but it comes completely out of left field, and is never explained beyond Hurley's transference moment (I do love the "Rose's husband's white. Didn't see that one coming."). Developing characters is one thing, but coming up with outrageous plot situations to do so is quite another. I'm sure that the writers could have come up with a better way of developing Kate's character, although what's developed other than her deciding she likes Sawyer this week, as opposed to Jack last week? The kiss scene in the jungle felt terribly tacked on, as the whole episode has focused on her relationship with Sawyer. Yes, it's to show that she's seeing if Jack is her man, but it still was completely unnecessary.

The flashbacks, again, are all right purely from an objective standpoint, but I don't like them at all. The marshal, who has been brilliant up to this point, is terrible here. He used to be kind of annoying, yet never over the top. He goes way over the top in this episode, and it's as if the writers knew nothing about Kate's back story except that this guy was annoying, so they went for annoying (The writers of the episode were not involved in Season 1, so that could explain why so many things seem strange). Fredric Lane does the best he can with what he's got, and I commend him for that. The rest of the flashbacks deal with Kate's family problems. One flashback shows how she cares for her mother, and another deals with her finding out some things about her father, or stepfather, whatever. That's the first problem-the plot of the flashbacks should not leave one scratching their heads trying to figure out what's going on ("So wait, she thought the army guy was her father and that the drunk was her stepfather, but he's her real father, and the army guy's her mother-no wait, that doesn't sound right."). The biggest mystery of the episode is not supposed to be who's related to whom in the flashbacks. Also, Kate is extremely bloodthirsty here. Sam says he didn't tell her about Wayne because he knew she'd kill him. What? I thought Kate was supposed to be a goody two shoes, and that's why her being a criminal is so shocking. But her father, (sorry, stepfather), knows that she would kill Wayne upon finding out that he's her father? Then, Kate asks why Sam didn't kill Wayne. Did I miss something? Would Kate have been happy to be a nine year old without a father, because of the fact that the guy might have been a jerk? The guy could have turned out differently, he could have cleaned up for his kid. The last flashback makes no sense whatsoever, and only Lindsey Ginter's fine acting stops it from being painful to watch.

The subplot of the episode is far more interesting. Eko gives Locke a missing piece of the Orientation film, which says not to use the computer for anything other than the code. Terry O'Quinn and AAA do a great job here, especially AAA. Every word Eko says sounds carefully measured, as if he doesn't want to say one word more than he has to. This could be disastrous in the wrong hands, but the silence of the character makes him intimidating and very likable at the same time. It's also interesting that he says, "Do not mistake coincidence for fate." We thought he was just like Locke up to this point, but Locke would never say that. Or so we think…. When we do see what was missing from the film, I have to be honest. It was disappointing. For Marvin Candle to basically say, "Don't use the computer!" again and again and in different ways, the cosmic fate/coincidence thing kind of goes out the window.

There are other little character bits that I like. Jin and Sun together is fun to watch, especially with Hurley's thumbs up. I also like Ana-Lucia and Jack together, because it seems like they've been waiting forty-nine days for that to occur. However, for Jack to remember the drink she had at the airport is completely ludicrous. Sayid is the character that always makes me the saddest this episode. It's an insult to him to make him dig Shannon's grave alone, and I always feel terrible when I see it. It's also interesting to note that a little over a week previously (on the island) Sayid attended a funeral for Boone, where Shannon was shattered. Sayid was fairly indifferent there, and didn't really seem too sad. At this funeral, he can't even complete a sentence without breaking down, and Naveen Andrews absolutely breaks my heart, and I feel his pain every time I watch the episode.

The last thing of note is Michael's examination of the hatch. There are blast doors, and he looks at the cables behind the computer. That's when he gets an "instant message". It's an excellent cliffhanger, and for all the bad that comes of this episode, this is one good thing. The "Dad?" moment is excellent, and will carry over interest to the next episode (that was six weeks away when the episode aired).

In conclusion, I personally dislike this episode, and think it's very poorly done. Aside from a couple of small subplots that take up less than ten minutes of screen time, the episode is largely illogical and boring. Josh Holloway and Evangeline Lilly are the two bright spots of the main story, but they can't save it from bad writing.

At first I thought this was a bad place to put Kates epsiode but it fit perfectly! There really did not need to be a flashback with so manythings happening. (spoilers)

This is the first episode were they really didint need a flashback and still make it great. There were so many storylines going on. We know what Kate Did but I think the reason for killing him seemed useless but her thinking that Sawer was Wayne was another great littile Island thing. The horse might be the monster refer to \"23rd Psalm\" Anyway on another note. Sayids grief was hardly mentionend and Anas was more so... The Bible scene Between Locke and EKo was great but I dont know why the tape was in there (On a littile laugh I the first time I saw it. EKo was M.R Candle Lol) Hurley was great in the first scene Somehow knowing that hes the HUmor in the show makes what he did funny.

Micheal found the chat on the computer this is so out of character becasue Micheal has never been a curoius person so for him to start chating it up and thinking his son was on the other line.

Finally the anwser for Kate

Well was surprised to see that we got quite some anwsers in this one, no more mysteries and now e know what the hell has heppened to 1 of the main characters.
Since Kate is one of peoples favorites I reccon, my guess that many agree with me that this episode has no specific adding to the story but has an nice sidekick effect on the question.. who is Kate??

I sound sad I know but I had been waiting for Jack and Kate to 'get it on' from the beginning of the 1st series.

I sound sad I know but I had been waiting for Jack and Kate to 'get it on' from the beginning of the 1st series.
I dont get these two characters at all cause it is obvious they are attracted to each other (Jack perving at Kate when she comes out of the shower in an earlier episode and Kate in series 1 saying to jack 'Were you checking me out?' and the looks she always gives him.
I mean you'd be pretty horny stuck on a desert island for 2 months, especially with Matthew Fox around!! Lol. So a bit of luuuuurve between the Kate and Jack characters would be very nice to see. I'm picturin a steamy sex scene ala Leo and Kate in Titanic!! Well that's just me anyway.
I hope Kate and Jack get it on and no, why would she wanna be with sawyer if he reminds her of her dad- that's just mad! They have a friendship but I think she fancies Jack.

Now then, onto the actual episode- hmmm bit wierd about her past I find it mad how all the characters in this have absurd and dramatic pasts, I mean what are the chances? It just reminds me of some soap we get over here produced by the BBC called 'East Enders' its just so OTT!! I mean how many people can die/have affairs/teenage preganancies/kidnaps etc etc in one town square. Same goes for Lost! It is very entertaining though and I suppose that's why I'm writing this now. Lol.

The horse incident was also wierd. One way to look at it is it was the horse that brought Kate to the island, it was her saviour in some way? Well I am not even going to try and guess any of the plot, do the producers just make it up week by week?

What I love about this program is it keeps you guessing and yeah, wanting more. I'm from Liverpool, England and its been a pain cause the 1st series has only just finished over here so I had to download series 2 episodes 1 - 11 off the good old world wide web! (Cheers ABC) I would love to watch more though!
I am believe that Lost has a deeper meaning and ties in freely with religion, (they are entering the code into computer but dont know why, all this fate, pre-destination stuff!)

Also there's another theory, may be all the characters who are associated with the numbers in some way, will live i.e Kate's character will live cause she was wanted for a $23,000 reward. The characters who have no ties with the numbers will be killed off, i.e. Boon and Shannon. Oh well, it was just a suggestion if anyone has any theories on this give us a shout cause I've been thinking about writing my dissertation on Lost I'm doing media studies at college and I've got to go into 10,000 words so if anyone has any theory behind lost or knows of any media theorists that correlate with Lost let me know.

I could go into more depth about the episode but I just wanted to concentrate on the kate - jack scenario and the fact its taken them this long to kiss, so come on- get on with it cause we girls wanna see some action!!!!!!
Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Kate's past is revealed, while Locke and Eko make a discovery about the tape. Shannon is burried and Sayid struggles with his grief. Michael connects to an unknown person.

In general, this was an average episode… not outstanding like most of them. There were some great scenes (as always), but overall it wasn't the best episode, although it did reveal a lot about Kate.
Sawyer is definitely my favourite character on this series... I love seeing his softer side, like when he told Jack he loved Kate. That doesn’t beat the scene when he told Jack about meeting his father in the second to last episode of last season, but it was still touching. My favourite part of the show was when he realized that they weren't saved ("Son of a bitch!"). The scenes with him and Kate were cute ("You know that horse, Freckles")... I can see a love square (not a triangle) on the horizon now that Ana is at there camp. Sawyer-Kate-Jack-Ana... very soap opera-y. We learn a lot about Kate... her past, her family, why she was on the run. Her real father... or the man that she calls ‘father’... and her mother lied to her all her life about her paternity. Her step-father... or her biological father... was an abusive drunk who she hated and who she sees everytime she looks at Sawyer. The horse she was seeing, she thought, was the ghost of her step-father... the man she killed. I think when she touched the horse at the end, she was able to put that part of her life behind her... or at least, for now... and move on. She's an interesting, but complex character, like everyone on that show. She seemed to be going crazy there for awhile and she even said so the Sayid (“... cause I’m going crazy.”). Did Sawyer really choke her, or was that all in her head?
The scenes with Sayid where very touching, especially at Shannon's funeral ("...we did meet; we did speak. At least, I loved her."). He had to dig her grave... don't you think someone would offer to do that for him? I loved the scene with him and Kate, and him putting the necklace on Shannon's grave ("I saw Walt in the jungle before Shannon was shot... does that make me crazy?").
Jin finally got the handcuff off his wrist... very freeing. How long has that been on his wrist for? And Hurley provided us with some great comic relief, as always (“So, Rose's husband's white. Didn't see that one coming.”)
Locke and Eko... very much alike... both men of faith ("Don't mistake coincidence for faith."). Eko is an interesting man... can't wait to see his flashback.
Finally, Michael... that was a great ending (or cliffhanger, I should say) and makes up for the fact that this episode wasn't the greatest. Could that be really Walt he is talking to? I guess we will find out next episode... or should I say, in January... can I really wait that long?!

Kate is indeed a cold-blooded killer, Eko knows more than he's saying and another computer on the island?

First, while I think this was a great and revealing episode, the whole Kate backstory trigger was unclear on my first viewing. It took me a while to realize she thought Sawyer was channeling White. Once that mad sense, her backstory triggers made more sense when the horse or Sawyer was around her.

The big thing in this episode is the film fragment. Why was it cut out? Who cut it out? Why was it on the other side of the island in the Arrow bunker hidden in a book? The whole thing about not using the computer for anything other than the numbers was odd.

Then after all that ominous blather about using it only for the numbers, Michael starts chatting on it? Ok first... remember Locke tried typing and nothing happened... the keyboard was dead until the 4 minute alarm. Next Michael is looking over the equipment... why? That stuff was built when he was a kid most likely... reel to reel data tapes? I mean come on. Like he's gonna know what to do with any of it? Then suddenly there's a beep and the word 'Hello?' on the screen and the ketboard suddenly works and he can freely chat at the system carrot? Hmmmmm.

What was really cool is that apparently it was Walt. this means yet another bunker somewhere on the island with another computer.
Oo I just thought of something... maybe Walt's in an underwater station? That would explain the cable that Sayid found going into the ocean on the beach, the Dharma logo on the shark that attacked Sawyer on the raft, and the fact that Walt is always soaking wet whenever anyone sees him... hmmm the thought plickens...

Kate, too, has daddy issues. And Sawyer issues, and Jack issues.

I feel like Locke at the end of "Deus Ex Machina," when the light from the hatch window reaffirmed his faith in the island. This episode reaffirms my faith in 'Lost,' as it indicates that writers haven't abandoned the narrative that worked so well last season.

The episode does everything you should expect an episode to do: It moved plotlines forward, revealed morsels of information about the hatch and Kate's past, and gave all the major players some time in the spotlight. The secondary characters were again reduced to background noise, but honestly, who really cares what they're up to when the star players are doing so well?

So, what Kate did has finally been revealed. It wasn't surprising in the least, and I think casts an even greater shroud of ambiguity over her character, but the flashback scenes were quick, concise, and thus the best of the season. Her actions may have been predictable, but at least the writers no longer need to skate around the issue. How long it takes her to tell any of the other characters remains to be seen.

Was Wayne really using Sawyer to channel his anger at Kate? It's possible, as we've seen dead fathers come back in various other forms (Jack's apparition, for example). It could just as easily have been Sawyer deliriously questioning his own checkered past, leading Kate to hear what she wanted to hear. What can't be disputed is the horse - a very real horse. It shows an indisputable connection between the island and the outside world, the type of supernatural biggity-boo that's been missing so far this season. I was glad to see Kate confront her past by shooing Sun and trying to draw out Wayne. It's something that many of the other characters aren't yet willing to do, and shows a tremendous amount of growth for her. She may be closer to redemption than any of the others.

Sawyer finally woke up, and was disappointed to find they hadn't been saved. It's good to have him back; the show has experienced a notable decline in snarky sarcasm the last few episodes.

Most importantly, the episode reveals a good deal about the bunker. Michael points out blast doors in the ceiling, to protect from an explosion (or rather, I think, the mysterious sickness). He fiddles around with the electronic equipment, something I'm surprised Sayid never got around to.

Then there's Locke and Eko. Their scene at the table, with Eko revealing the missing piece of film, was one of the best of the season. The relationship between the two of them seems more tenuous than I first expected. "Don't mistake coincidence for fate," Eko warns Locke. To a point, I think his rational approach may be right. Locke is capable of finding mystical meaning in just about everything. But at the same time, Eko seems to be ignoring the incredible number of coincidences that have happened to bring the two pieces of tape together. Locke and Eko both had to survive the plane crash, survive attacks by monsters and Others (when so many of their companions have died), discovered the bunkers, found the tape in the bunkers, and (in Eko's case) thinking it important enough to carry across the island. And that's a few of the coincidences relating to just these guys. Too account everything that's happened to coincidence is just as misguided as accounting it all to fate.

I still expect to Locke and Eko to keep close. Their views may not align perfectly, but their personalities are too much alike (and too different from many of the other characters) for them to become adverseries. I more expect them to challenge each other's perspectives, for mutual benefit.

The cliffhanger at the end was killer. Apparently the computer can be contacted from another on the island, but can't initiate the contact itself. Is it really Walt on the other side? Possibly. Is it the Others? Probably. The popular theory among many viewers is that it's all part of the Dharma Initiative's behavioral experiment, but that seems too easy to me. There's too much danger and too many supernatural occurrences - murderous monsters, murderous Others, connections with the outside world - for this to just be some academic experiment. That may have been all it was at one point, but it sure as hell isn't now.

Thats what she did?

I always wandered what Kate did in her past that got her in trouble with the law. We knew this:

1. She did something that her mother is afraid of her.
2.She robbed a bank
3. She got the person she loved killed

But we knew she did something before all those and we learned she is a killer/arcinist. I didnt see that coming, I thought her crime would have been a case of nice girl hanging with a crowd since she seems very nice to be a killer. But as always expect the unexpected. Maybe in another flashback episode we will learn on what her step-father did so bad to her mother that Kate had to kill him.

Kate-centric episode. Kate believes that her dead father is being channeled through Sawyer. And Eko reveals something interesting about the training film.

A very interesting episode. Kate's crime in this episode is finally revealed. I found it was less than exciting (I was hoping she was a serial killer or something). The horse accident was very symbolic. Nearly the same thing happened in the plane. They get into an accident and Kate gains her freedom. On a side note I just want to tell everyone what kind of an actress Evangline Lilly was before J.J. Abrams hired her. I recognized her as a Canadian in the pilot. Up here in Canada she had the job of being an actress on one of those phone dating services. You know the ones "are you looking for a good time but you don't want to go into bars." Yeah she was one of those girls. Flopping around on her couch and smiling into a phone, constantly wiping the hair out of her eyes. I must say her acting skills have been improved a lot with this show. But I digress.

I must say that Hurley is being written to be the most relatable character on the show. He says exactly what the audience is thinking. For exapmle: "So, Rose's husband's white. Didn't see that one coming." That's exactly what I said.

I think this is one of the first episodes in a long time that all the main (living) cast members were in thats a big thing.

The film strip thing was pretty surprising although I don't understand why it was taken out in the first place. Oh well likely we'll fing out in a years time or something.

I'm happy for Locke now he has an equallystrange person to speak to about strange ideas and concepts. Althoguh Eko was a bit off about Josiah finding the New Testament, probably Josiah didn't find the entire New Testament including the portion about himslef. But no bother its barely a mistake.

So the horse thing. I guess my theory was wrong I thought it was Walt bringing the Animals to reality but now Kates memories are becoming physical. Oh well it's sometimes better not to think about the mysteries of this show.

ABC is absolutely killing me with their new promotion thing. Now they extend Lost 4 minutes longer than is necassary just so Invasion has a better lead in. And I've been missing the last four minutes ever since they started doing this. Also what will happen when they try to Sindicate the show and it won't fit into the alloted time, their really screwwing themselves with this.

All in all a good episode. Although it's what I've come to expect from Lost.

Due to the UK Christmas schedules, I happened to see \"The Mummy Returns\" which features Mr. Eko in another character (a baddie). During the film, one of the principal characters says to Brendon Fraser \"Do not mistake coincidence for fate

The episode was paced much better than previous episodes. Flashbacks were interesting, too. No boring stuff.

This episode also had several mysteries. For example Sawyer's takeover. The victim of Kate's crime came back... only wanted to know 'Why?..' As soon as Kate answered, the spirit gone, and Sawyer got much better.

Anyhow, the ending of the episode is incredible. Michael's adventure is on. And it wont stop until episode 24.

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